The town is located at the mouth of the River Usk where it enters the River Severn estuary. A medieval borough with a castle (now in ruins) dating from about 1126, the town of Newport enjoyed commercial privileges conferred by various charters, such as that of 1385. Its present importance, however, dates from the 19th-century industrialization of the neighbouring coalfield. In 1839 Newport was the scene of some of the popular uprisings known as the Chartist riots, bullet marks from which are still visible in the pillars of the Westgate Hotel. The coal trade that brought considerable prosperity to the port up to 1913 has since ceased, and the town’s industry diversified to include steel and aluminum processing, papermaking, engineering, and chemicals. The port’s imports include timber, tea, and automobiles. Historically, Newport was one of the most important metallurgical centres in Britain, with an immense steelworks at Llanwern, east of the town. Steelmaking ceased there in 2001, but the works continued to roll and coat strip steel. Erected in 1906, a Transporter bridge 245 feet (75 metres) high spans the river near the docks, and a road bridge built in 1964 was the first cable cantilever bridge in Britain.

Newport county borough covers an area of industrial and residential development and open countryside around the town of Newport. Its main historical fame lies in the town of Caerleon (“City of the Legions”). From the 4th century bce to 75 ce the place was a stronghold of the Silures, the tribe that controlled what later became Monmouthshire. When the Romans conquered the Silures, Caerleon became the site of Isca Silurum, chief fortress of the Roman 2nd Augustan Legion. An amphitheatre built in the town in 80 ce later became known as King Arthur’s Round Table. The present county borough has been dominated by the port of Newport since the 19th century, and that town continues to employ the bulk of the surrounding population. Agriculture remains a strong tradition to the east and west of the town, however, where a few small market villages remain. The county borough has excellent rail and motorway connections with London, southeastern England, the Midlands, and northern England, as well as with other parts of southern Wales. Area county borough, 73 square miles (190 square km). Pop. (2001) town, 116,143; county borough, 137,011; (2011) town, 128,060; county borough, 145,736.

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